Pneumatic road roller



June 13, 1961 H. J. sEAMAN PNEUMATIC ROAD ROLLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1956 INVENTOR. HARRY J. SEAMAN BY sailor/regs June 13, 1961 H. J. SEAMAN PNEUMATIC ROAD ROLLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5. 1956 United States Patent 2,987,975 PNEUMATIC ROAD ROLLER Harry J. Seaman, 305'N; 25th St., Milwaukee, Wis; Filed June 5, 1956', Ser. No. 592,706 (Filed under Rule 47 (bland 35 U.S-.C. 11 8) Claims. ((-21; 94-50) Thisinvention relates to a road roller and particularly is directed toa self-propelled road roller having a.fronti andrea-r roller assembly provided by a series of pneu mati'ctired wheels or pneumatic rollsmounted upon a solid axle.

In general, the invention is directed to a road roller comprising a ballast section which issupported at the rear by a series of pneumatic roll's mounted to rotate freely on a common axle to provide the rear roller ass'embly. The ballast section is secured by a hitch to a front unit which supports the engine and driving mecha--= ni'sm on a series of pneumatic rolls likewise mounted on a common axle and forming the-front roller assembly. Therolls or wheels in front are lesser in number than the rear rolls and are offset from the rearrolls to roll over a path:

lying" between correspondingpairsofthe rear' rolls.

The rear'roller assembly is readily removed as a unit and the sameis true of the front roller assembly;

The machine is driventhrough the front" rollersby by draulic operated clutch means: and the clutch control for driving the front rolls permits adjustment of the clutch pressure while turning the. roller tocontrol the torque input to the. rolls; This permits the roller to be turned without scuffingor rupturing the surface being rolled or which has been rolled.

An object of the invention is to provide an approach to a solid roller drum; in apneumatic roller by means of cl'oselyspaced tires on a solid axle.

Another objectof. the invention is to provide a road' roller having driving clutch means permitting control of the torque input to the: wheels being driven with a resultant short turn of. the machine without scufiing or rupturing the rolled surface.

Another object is to provide aroad roller having cl'ose spaced pneumatic. tired Wheels individually clutched to a.

common axle.

Another object is, to provide a roller construction wherein the center of rotation on. turning oflthe. machine. is maintained centrally of two of the roller tires. so that the machine is never turned on solely one wheel;

These and. other. objects of the. invention. will appear. hereinafter. in connection with the following, description of. the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 isa sideelevational view. of the. road roller. of. the invention;

FIG..2- is a top-plan view of: the roller of thetinventioni with the pneumatic tired wheels of the front: and rear roller assembliesshown in-dotted lines FIG.v 35 is a longitudinal sectional: view with parts in elevation taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4:isan endview of'EIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an. enlargedidetail; sectionalvi'ew of the' clutch;

FIG. dis a partial section taken on line 66-'of'FIG. 2*; and

FIG.7 is an end view of FIG. 6.

Referringto the drawings,.there is shown a road roller comprising in general for purposes of illustration a rear ballastgsection I made up of a plurality of compartments, notshown; for receiving, liquid to weight the.same,,a,forward ballast section 2' for dry ballast, and drive unit 3 'l-hedryhallast section is. secured to; the drive unit 3 by a.

hitch 4. and the drive unit carries. an engine 5 for propelling. the road roller, and; a seat 6 for the driver. The engine. provides ballast on. unit 3 along with the ballast: which may be addectto the machine.

To transmit driving power'to the machine; the engine 51 has a transmission 7 inboard of the. engine which carriesa; drive; gear 8 connected by chain. 9. to a second: gear 10 keyed: to the front axle 1 1 of the. unit. by key 12 for rotating the axle. When. the transmission is; in neutrali theaxle is not rotated.

Referring now to the front roller construction, the. front; axle 11' to which gearlil iskeyed comprises a hollow'tube on which is mounted a series of pneumatic tired wheels: 13, such wheels for the purpose ofillustration being eight in: number. Wheels 13 are independently mounted. on: axle 11 by their respective hubs 1:4 for free rotation and axial movement on the hollow axle 11. Sleeves 15 are interposed between the hubs 14 and are keyed to axle: 11 to rotate at all times with the axle; The sleeves also are; free to move axially; The driven gear 10, previouslyre ferred to, also is disposed between a pair of hubs 14-andl corresponds to the sleeves 15-to separate the hubs 14' of a: pair of wheels 13. inwardly on each side of the axle 11 of the two outermost wheels 13 is located a bearing as-- sembly 16 which supports-the axle from the d'rive unit 3 and one of" the bearing assemblies carries the driving means for the front wheels 13, as will be described.

Each of the hubs 14 of wheels 13 on their respective: opposite sides are recessed and carry a clutch face 17 which isopposedto-either a sleeve 15, a bearing assembly- 16 or the hub ofgear 10; In order tosecure the sleeves, bearing assemblies and hubs 14 of wheels 13 longitu dinally to hollow axle 11, a long rod 18 extends through axle '1-1. The head 19 ofrod 18 abuts a first washer 20 keyed to axle 1'1 and washer 20" abuts the clutch face 17 on the outermost wheel 13 as may be observed at the left side of FIG. 3. The nut 21 is threaded onto the opposite end'of rod 18'and abuts a second washer 20 which in turn abuts the clutch face 17 on theoutermost wheel 13 asmay be seen at the right side of FIG. 3.

In'order to prevent the nut 21 from unthreadingbothwashers." 20 have radial circumferentially spaced ribs 22. Short screws 23' are threaded through both head 19 and nut 21 and project to one side of the ribs 22, and the: ribs 22 engage the screws. to prevent rod 18 from turning- 1n service.

The bearing assemblies 16 previously referred to are; shown aslocate'd between the second and third wheels: at oppositeend portions of axle 11.

Eachbearing assembly comprises, as' one such assem'-. bly: appearsiin' FIG. lland FIG. 4, a. generally rectangularly' shaped plate 24 which is received in brackets 25 at opposite sides of the vertical walls bordering the opening. within the underside of the drive unit 3, as shown in FIG. 1*, to receive the forward roller and drive assembly; Each plate is bolted at the upper corner to brackets 26 which are secured'to the upper portion of the opposite" vertical wall'sbord'ering the opening in drive unit 3;

Each plate 24 at the lower edge carries a flat hori-- zontal plate 27 welded thereto; A pair ofsupport plates:- 28'. are. holtedto plate 27, oneplate 28 being located for-= wardly and one rearwardly of axle 11. A support. bracket 29 is. welded to each. support plate 28 and: ex-. tends. downwardly diagonally and is welded. respectively to-the-for-ward and rear portions of annular bearing hous, ing. 3.0.v By jacking up the drive unit 3 and. removing; the. boltsatithe' upper corners of each plate 24, the-front: roller can, be rolled out from under. the roller machine Parts 28,, 29' and. 30; may bean integral casting.

assure One of the bearing assemblies 16, in this case the one at the left in FIG. 3 and shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 5, is employed for providing the driving means for wheel 13. The other bearing assembly, in this case the one on the right in FIG. 3 merely acts as a bearing for the axle. 7 Referring to the bearing assembly of FIG. the annular bearing housing 30 there shown, extends around the axle 11 in radially spaced relation to the axle and is disposed between longitudinally spaced bearing rings 31 which are keyed to axle 11 to rotate with the axle but are free to move longitudinally on the axle.

One of rings 31 abuts the clutch face 17 of hub 14 of one wheel 13 and the other of rings 31 abuts the clutch face 17 of the hub 14 of another wheel 13. Two sets of ball bearings 32 are confined between housing 30 and rings 31 and engage an inner shoulder 33 on each ring 31. A seal 34 is located outwardly of each set of ball bearings 32 and a pair of spacer rings 35 are located inwardly of each set of ball bearings 32. The spacer rings are separated by an annular chamber 36. Up to this point the description of the bearing in FIG. 5 is the same as the description of the bearing shown at the right side of FIG. 3, and the latter need not be separately described, except to state that instead of chamber 36, the spacer rings 35 are separated by the lock ring 37 and do not function as pistons as do rings 35 in FIG. 3. In the case of the bearing shown at the left side of FIG. 3 and in FIG. 5, the chamber 36 registers with a fluid supply passage and connection 38.

Hydraulic fluid is supplied to chamber 36 to separate spacer rings 35 by means of the supply connection 38. Connection 38 is connected to the hand pump 39 located adjacent the drivers seat 6 so that it may be actuated by the driver of the roller machine to supply hydraulic fluid under a predetermined pressure from a source of fluid not shown to supply fluid to chamber 36 and spread the spacer rings 35 axially. The movement of the spacer rings 35 is transmitted to annular rings 31 to move the hubs 14 axially and force all the clutch faces 17 on each hub into engagement with a driven member such as sleeves 15 and gear 10. This movement of the described members drives the wheels 13 in the direction the axle 11 is turning. By controlling the pressure of the fluid in chamber 36 through pump 39, the speed of the wheels can be controlled by the engagement pressure developed between the driven sleeves 15 and the hubs 14 of wheels 13. Thus, the hubs 14 may be in full clutch engagement with clutch faces 17 of the hubs 14 of the wheels for a solid coupling drive of the wheels or the engagement may be a slippage engagement so that the sleeves 15 slip on clutch faces 17 or if the hydraulic fluid is dumped or released the wheels may be completely free or non-clutched from the driving sleeves 15. Although pump 39 is described as a hand pump, the same operation may be accomplished by other pump or valve means to control the flow of fluid to and from chamber 36. Thus, the clutch pressure may be adjusted by the driver at all times for greater or lesser driving of the wheels when the roller is being turned, for example, to control the torque input to the wheels. Scuffing or rupturing of the surface being rolled or which has been rolled is thus prevented be cause any wheel tending to scuff or rupture the surface over which the roller is passing develops suflicient resistance to the drive of the sleeves 15 so that the wheel or roll slips its clutch faces 17 on the sleeves and in effect is declutched until the resistance is overcome. In such case the other of the wheels would continue to be driven and propel the machine on the turn.

So that the movement of the roller unit may be braked, the transmission brake 40 is secured to gear 8 and brakes. gear 8 upon operation of lever 41 while the clutch faces 17 are in engagement with the sleeves 15. Other electric, mechanical or hydraulic braking means may be provided on both the front and rear rollers of the vehicle I but need not be described, as the braking means has no bearing on the present invention.

In order to steer the roller and turn the drive unit 3 ninety degrees in either direction from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a hydraulic operated assembly is provided which is actuated from the drivers seat 6. This assembly comprises a cylinder 42 which is secured to the top of the dry ballast section 2 and carries a double acting piston 43, from which extends the rod 44 pivoted to a triangular link 45. One end of link 45 is secured to lug 46 on the ballast section 2 and the other end of link 45 is joined by a short link 47 to a post 48 which projects upwardly from the forward end of the bracket 49 to which hitch 4 is pivoted. One side of cylinder 42 is connected'by hose 50 to valve 51 at the drivers seat 6 and the other side of cylinder 42 is also connected by hose 52 to valve 51 Operation of the valve 51 by lever 53 will effect actuation of piston 43 and turning of the drive unit 3 in the direction desired.

Referring now to the rear portion of the roller of the invention, there is disposed a roller assembly comprising a series of pneumatic tired wheels 54, such wheels as shown for the purposes of illustration in FIG. 2 of the drawing being nine in number. Wheels 54 are each in dependently mounted by their respective hubs 55 for free rotation on the hollow axle 56 which extends transversely of the rear of the machine and is of a length to dispose a portion of the outermost wheels 54 outside of the ballast section 1 so that the machine may be operated close to a curb. The wheels 54 are separated from each other by the sleeves 57, except that between the second and third wheel inwardly of each side of the assembly is located a bearing assembly 58 which supports the rear portion of the roller machine and provides a means for securing the rear roller assembly to the ballast section 1.

The wheels, sleeves and bearing asemblies are secured longitudinally to the hollow axle 56 by a rod 59 which extends through hollow axle 56. The head 60 of the rod' 59 at one end of the axle 56 engages a washer 61 which is keyed to axle 56 and abuts hub 55 of the outermost wheel 54. The washer 61 has radial ribs 62, and short screws 63 are threaded through washer 61 and engage the sides of ribs 62 to prevent the rod 59 from rotating. A nut and washer corresponding in construction with the nut and washer on the rod 18 of the front axle are empldyed at the threaded end of rod 59 and need not be separately described, since they function in the same manner. The washer 61 and the opposite washer which is not shown, however, do not have clutch faces as do the washers on the front axle.

One of the bearing assemblies 58 is shown in FIG. 6 and a description of such assembly is also applicable to the other and corresponds to the bearing assembly shown at the right side of FIG. 3 for the front axle. The hearing assembly comprises longitudinal spaced rings 64, one of which abuts the hub 55 of one wheel and the other of which abuts hub 55 of another wheel. A hearing housing 65 extends around the axle 56 between the rings 64 in radial spaced relation to axle 56, and two sets of ball bearings 66 are confined between rings 64 and housing 65. The sets of bearings 66 are separated by a lock ring 67 and are sealed outwardly thereof by a suitable sealing assembly 68. The axle 56 floats freely in each bearing assembly 58.

In order to secure each bearing assembly 58 to the ballast section, each assembly 58 is constructed in a manner so that it is only necessary to remove one bolt on each assembly to remove the rear roller assembly from the machine.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, the construction on one side of the machine is shown wherein a pair of support plates 69, one located forward and one rearward of the axle 56, are welded to the upper portion of bearmg housing 65. A support bracket 70 is also welded to the forward and rear portion of bearing housing 65 and is welded to each support plate 69. The respective plates aas'asns;

69' arebolted to flat plate 71- which is weldedito the lower edge of a large rectangular shaped mountingplate 72'.

Mountingplate- 7-2 sets within forward and rear brackets 73' secured to the ballast section 1 at the upper edge of plate- 72 and withinthe bracket 74 which is secured to section 1 forwardly of the plate 72. In addition, plate 72 rests on an angle flange 75 secured to ballast section *1 below bracket 74. The mounting plate 72 is secured in place by the single bolt 76 which extends through rear bracket 73. In addition, bumper section 77 is suitably secured to each of the mounting plates 72. In order to remove the rear roller assembly, the ballast section 1 is jacked up by engagement of a jack, not shown, with pad 78, the bolts 76 are removed from each mounting plate 72 and the rear roller assembly and bumper section 77 are removed by merely rolling the entire assembly rearwardly.

The rear wheels 54 being nine in number, as described, are offset from the front wheels 13 which are shown as eight in number so that the rear wheels roll over a slightly different surface area than the front wheels. The number of wheels may be varied, although limitations of road widths will prevent employment of a large number of pneumatic wheels.

The employment of a series of closely spaced pneumatic rolls on a solid axle provides a roller machine which approaches a solid drum and yet retains the compacting action which is a desirable feature of pneumatic tired wheels and provides a roller machine which is faster and more maneuverable. The spacing between rolls on both the front and rear rollers should be from twenty to thirty percent of the width of the tires of the rolls and the desired close spacing is obtained by employment of the generally rectangular support plates which support the axles from the ballast section and the drive unit.

In addition the invention provides a roller machine in which the drive rolls or wheels are individually clutched to a common shaft by clutching means which is actuated to slip clutch those rolls or wheels tending to develop a resistance which might rupture or scuff the surface being operated upon. The full clutch, non-clutch, and slip clutch of the rolls to the front axle, as described, permits control of the torque transmitted to the front rolls to at all times make it possible for the driver of the roller to sensitively control the drive of the rolls upon turning of the machine.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

I claim:

1. In a road roller, a frame, an axle, drive means connected to the frame for rotating the axle, a pair of rolls rotatably mounted on the axle with each roll having a central hub, a pair of clutch members disposed between said rolls and engageable with the hubs of the respective rolls, a pair of spaced annular bearing members connected to the frame and disposed between said clutch members to rotatably support the axle, means for closing the space between said bearing members to provide a closed chamber therebetween, means for mounting the bearing members for sliding axial movement in relation to said axle, means for supplying fluid pressure to said closed chamber to move said bearing members axially and force said clutch members into engagement with the hubs of the respective rollers, and stop means connected to the axle and located on the opposite sides of said rolls from said clutch members to resist the axial thrust of the clutch members against the rolls and effect a clutch of the roll to the axle.

2. In a road roller, a frame, an axle, drive means connected to the frame for rotating the axle, a roll having a hub and rotatably mounted on the ale, clutch means connected to the axle and engageable with the hub of said ber connected to the frame and" closing off the space be;-

tween saidfirst and second bearing sections to provide a closed chamber' therebetween, said" first bearing section being operably connected to said clutch means, means for mounting the first bearing section for sliding movement relative to said second bearing section, means for supplying hydraulic fluid to the closed chamber to move said first bearing section axially of said second section and force said clutch means into engagement with the hub of the roller, and stop means connected to the axle and located on the opposite side of said roll from said clutch means to resist the axial thrust of said clutch means against the roll and effect a clutch of the roll to the axle.

3. In a pneumatic road roller, a frame, a rotatable axle, a series of pneumatic rolls mounted on said axle and free to move axially and to revolve on said axle, means to rotate said axle, sleeve members keyed to said axle to rotate with the axle and disposed between pairs of said rolls, clutch faces on the side surfaces of said rolls abutting said sleeve members, bearing assemblies connected to the frame and disposed between a pair of said rolls and disposed to rotatably support the axle, retaining means at the ends of said axle to hold the sleeve members, rolls and bearing assemblies on said axle, said bearing assemblies including an annular first bearing section and an annular second bearing section spaced longitudinally on said axle, closure means connected to the frame for closing off the outer extremity of said annular space between said bearing sections to provide a closed chamber therebetween, means for supplying fluid pressure to the closed chamber to move the bearing sections axially to force said sleeve members into engagement with the clutch faces of said rolls, said retaining means serving to resist the axial thrust of said sleeves against the rolls and thereby effect a clutch of the roll to the axle.

4. In a road roller, a frame, a cylinder connected rigidly to the frame, an axle extending through the cylinder, means connected to the cylinder for journaling the axle for rotation, a roll having a central hub rotatably mounted on the axle adjacent said cylinder, a piston member disposed around the axle and slidably mounted within the cylinder, a clutch member operably connected to the piston member and engageable with the hub of the roll, means for supplying fiuid pressure to the cylinder to move said piston member and effect engagement of the clutch member with said hub, and stop means connected to the axle and located on the opposite side of said roll from said clutch member to resist the axial thrust of the clutch member against the roll and effect a clutch of the roll to the axle.

5. In a road roller, a frame, an axle support member depending from said frame, a cylinder connected rigidly to said axle support member, an axle disposed within the cylinder and projecting beyond the ends thereof, means connected to the axle support member for journaling the axle for rotation, a pair of pneumatic rolls disposed on either side of the support member, each of said rolls having a central hub rotatably mounted on said axle, a pair of piston members disposed around the axle and slidably mounted within said cylinder, a clutch member operably connected to each piston member and engageable with the hub of the respective rolls, means for supplying fluid pressure to the cylinder to move said piston members axially and force said clutch members into engagement with the respective hubs of the rolls, and stop means connected to the axle and located outwardly of said rolls to resist the axle thrust of said clutch members against said hubs and effect a full clutch, nonclutch and slippage clutch of the rolls to the axle.

(References on following page) 7 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Frankman Apr, 20, 1920 Baines May 20, 1924- Boltshauser Feb.-25, 1930 Ritchie Dec. 17, 1935 8 Durham Apr; 18, 19391 Poulter May 7, 1940; Canfield Sept. 3, 1940; Ross Dec. 24, 1940 Greiner et a1. June 6, 1950 Butler Dec. 2, 1952 

